"Lincoln's Surveillance State" Op-Ed NYTimes July 6, 2013

[My Name Is Kate]

Not at all sure if this is helpful, but I googled "The Secretary of War has my authority to exercise his discretion in the matter within mentioned." and came up with this info:

A letter dated January 24, 1862 from Stanton to Lincoln, with the above endorsement by Lincoln on the back of it, on page 118 (Abraham Lincoln; Complete Works, Comprising His Speeches, State ..., Volume 1):

"In my opinion the success of military operations and the safety of the country require some changes to be made in the Bureau of Ordnance, and perhaps some others, in order to secure more vigor and activity; and I desire to have your sanction for making them.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, EDWIN M. STANTON"

http://books.google.com/books?id=P3saAAA...22&f=false

And this apparent alteration of the above, on page 190 (The Civil War and the Press, edited by David B. Sachsman, S. Kittrell Rushing, Debra Reddin Van Tuyll) The sources given in the footnotes are Dana, "Recollections", p. 5, Stanton Papers, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., and Thomas and Hyman, "Stanton", p. 152.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Y2KUTBv...27&f=false

Here is a book by David T. Z. Mindich, "Just the Facts: How "Objectivity" Came to Define American Journalism" with the same (mis)information, on page 79, as the above book.

http://books.google.com/books?id=546ccpT...22&f=false